Handbag fastener



April 13, 1937.

F. N. LEWIS HANDBAG FASTENER Filed July .17, 1935 Fig.6 INVENiOR. BY 51mm zfiw qacm ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 13, 1937 UNITED STATES HANDBAG FASTENER Florence N. Lewis, New York, N. Y.', assignor to Elizabeth Arden Sales Corporation,New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application July 17, 1935, Serial No. 31,767

1 Claim.

My invention relates to a new and improved handbag fastener.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a handbag with a simple closure device,

which shall have an artistic appearance, and which can be readily manipulated, and which shall not have any projecting parts.

Another object of my invention is to provide a handbag having a metal frame which comprises two frame members which are connected by a hinge, the upper elements of said metal frame members being complemental, and having guide means in which a closure member can be slidably located, so that said closure member may be moved to'the inoperative or operative position, while remaining in contact with one of said guide means.

Another object of my invention is to provide latch means for limiting the sliding movement of said closure member.

Other objects of my invention will be set forth in the following description and drawing, which illustrates a preferred embodiment thereof, it being understood that the above statements of the objects of my invention are intended to generally explain the same without limiting it in any manner.

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of the bag, in the closed position, the closure member being shown in the operative position.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view which is similar to Fig. 1, showing the closure member in the inoperative position, and the bag in the closed position.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the bag, in the open position.

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the left-hand side of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line 6--6 of Fig. 3.

The invention can be used in connection with a great many different types of hand-bags and other articles of luggage, and it is illustrated in connection with one particular type of hand bag, many of whose parts may be of standard construction.

As shown in Fig. 3, the hand bag comprises two body portions l and 2, each of which is provided with a frame member 30 which is made of metal or any other suitable material. Said frame members are connected by means of a hinge 3|. In this particular embodiment, each said frame member corresponds to three sides of a rectangle.

The frame members are provided with top elements 3 and 3a, and with guide members 5 and 5a, which can be connected in any suitable manner, as by soldering, welding, or the like, to the top elements 3 and 3a.

If desired, the guide members 5 and Sacould be made integral with the top elements 3 and 311, by stamping or otherwise shaping the parts.

As shown in Fig. 3, the guide members 5 and 5a are respectively provided with parallel flanges i and 4a, which are aligned when the bag is closed. These flanges are L-shaped so as to hold the member 6 in sliding relation, but the invention is not limited to this L-shape.

Thelength of each guide member may be equal to one half the length of the frame, although this can be varied. When the bag is in the closed position which is illustrated in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the adjacent ends of the guide members 4 and 4a substantially abut each other.

A closure member 6 is made of any suitable flexible material or fabric, and the inner end of said closure member 6 is connected to a ring 1, which is turnably mounted in 2. lug 8 of a frame member.

The outer end of the closure member 6 is provided with a stifiem'ng member S, which is enclosed by the material of said closure member 6. The stiffening member S may be made of any suitable metal or other material, and it may be rigid or resilient. The member 6 is sufliciently flexible so that said member 6 does not have a predetermined shape. The slide or stiffening member S has suificient rigidity, so that it has a predetermined normal shape.

The closure member 6, including the stiffened outer end thereof, fits snugly and slidably between the flanges 4 and 4a of the guide members 5 and 5a.

The stiffening member S projects beyond the outer end of the member 6, and a tougue 9 is connected to the outer end of the stiffening member S, by means of a hinge H]. The hinge pintle of the hinge i6 is located directly above the tops of the flanges 4 and 4a, when the member 6 is in the position shown in Fig. 3. For this purpose, the outer end of the member S can be bent upwardly if desired.

The lug of the hinge I0 is preferably integral with the outer end of the member S.

Near the left-hand end thereof, the guide member 5a is provided with a slot or opening I 5. Part of this transverse slot [5 extends laterally beyond the inner edge of the top element 3.

The strip S is provided between its ends with a downwardly bent and resilient tongue L, which may be stamped out of the body of the strip S. The tongue or latch L is of less width than the strip S.

When the member 6 is in the inoperative position shown in Fig. 3, the latch member L enters the slot l5, thus preventing any furthermovement of the strip S, to the left of the position which is shown in Fig. 3.

The latch member L can be eliminated if desired.

However, its use is preferable, since it prevents the closure member 6 from being moved back too far. The tongue L can be released from slot [5 by a suitable tool, if it is, desired to remove member S from the top of the respective frame member.

In the position shown in Fig. 3, the inner end of the strip S extends up to the point which is designated by the reference numeral 14. I

Thetongue 9, which can be bent to the vertical positionshown in Fig. 2 and in Fig; 3, facilitates the sliding movement of the strip S.

When the bag is closed, the tongue 9 can be bent into the position shown in Fig. 1, so that, it snugly abuts the adjacent end wall of the frame. In the position the flexible member 6 is substantially taut, as shown in Fig. 1.

The interior of the bag can be fitted in any suitable manner. For example, it may be provided with a pocket l8a, to the outer wall of which a purse I8 is connected. Likewise a pocket 22 and a mirror M may be provided. Holding bands l9 and 2! can be provided for holding cosmetics and the like.

, a holding band II.

I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention but it is clearthat numerous changes and omissions can be made without departing from its spirit.

I claim:

A hand-bag comprising hinged frame-members having top frame elements, each said top frame element having a guide-element connected thereto, each said guide element having L'-shaped and upstanding flanges, the outer end of each said guide element substantially abutting an end of its frame element, the length of each said guide-element being substantially one-half of the length of its frame element, said guide elements being of equal length and width, each said guide-element,

being of greater width than its frame'element, said flanges beingjaligned when the bag is closed, a slide movable on saidguide elements between said flanges, and a flexible member connecting said slide to a, frame member, one of said guide elements having a transverse slot whose width ex ceeds the width of the associated frame element, said slide having a resilient anddownwardly bent tongue which enters said slot when the slide is moved to its inoperative position.

FLORENCE N. LEWIS. 

